The present invention relates to safety equipment for vehicles and, in particular, to a bumper-air bag system which automatically causes air bags in the interior of the vehicle to inflate upon an impact upon one of the bumpers of the vehicle.
Various safety apparatus have been provided on vehicles which automatically activate upon impact of a front bumper. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,784,387, a rubberized bumper tube was provided filled with oil which was directly connected to a brake apparatus whereby the brakes were applied automatically when a front bumper was impacted. Although the present invention incorporates a rubberized or flexible front bumper, the safety device of the present invention causes air bags to inflate and the valve system which causes inflation is entirely different.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,791, an air bag system is disclosed. However, in that patent, the air bag is attached to the front bumper and is provided to protect the vehicle upon an impact and not the passengers in the interior. Thus, no air passageways are shown or needed and the required valve which opens to cause the bag to inflate is entirely different and requires, in addition to opening a valve, that the exterior chamber holding the bag be ruptured.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,669, patented Jan. 28, 1975, and 3,922,002, patented Nov. 25, 1975, occupant restraint systems are shown utilizing air bags in the interior of an automobile with an air passageway coupled to the air bag and compressed air released into the passageway when a valve is released due to the impact on the bumper. However, the bumper apparatus is not resilient and does not contain compressed gas and, further, the valve apparatus shown are destructive requiring the piercing of a diaphragm as a single cylinder collapses in response to an impact.
By contrast, the present invention incorporates a pair of cylinders connected between the bumper and the frame of the vehicle having two cylindrical members defining an air-tight enclosure with a non-destructive valve in the interior so that as one cylinder moves relative to the other, a valve is mechanically opened releasing compressed gas to inflate the air bags in the interior of the vehicle.
Finally, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,901, a continuous pressurized air tank is provided, a portion of which is a front bumper with a valve placed between the pressurized gas tank and an air bag in the interior of the car. The valve is actuated by an increase in air pressure caused by an impact on the front bumper resulting in the inflation of the air bags in the interior of the vehicle.
By contrast, the present invention does not require a valve between the air bag and the branch section connecting the interior of the vehicle with the front bumper and, further, has a mechanical valve which is actuated in response to physical movement of the bumper rather than an increase in air pressure within a pressurized gas tank.